Generally Good, But With Plot Gaps

Rating: 7/10 (23 July 2004)

"28 Days Later..." succeeds in its basic target: To provide two enjoyable hours to its audience, full of suspense and action. Although it is a film that is characterized under the "Horror" category, it does not overwhelm the viewer with unnecessary and tiring gory scenes; instead, the director manages to achieve the horror element mainly through the psychological pressure that the plot generates. There are some quite scary and bloody scenes, yes, but they are not dominant in the movie; the fear, distress, and panic of the characters is what raises our adrenaline.
So what is "28 Days Later..." about? The story is as follows: An unknown and highly contagious virus escapes a research lab, and it quickly produces an epidemic. The people infected by it enter a state of murderous and destructive rage, becoming in effect a form of killer-zombies. Within 28 days, when the civilization seems to have been fatally shattered, Jim (Murphy), a hospital patient who was in a coma due to an accident, wakes up and discovers a totally new world surrounding him. He begins a quest to find other uninfected survivors, of which there are unfortunately very few. In the process, he and his companions realize that there are more dangers in this new environment than simply the virus itself...
Although the story is interesting, it has the problem that it features some disturbing gaps that cannot stand to some scrutiny. I do not want to enter into much detail here, as I will have to reveal spoilers, but what I can safely mention, without revealing the plot, is the following: The main point of the storyline is that the infected are portrayed as zombies who have no consciousness or logic at all, but their only activity is to massacre in a raving state whoever is near them; they do not eat, drink, or perform any basic human function. However, the above fact should mean that these zombie-people would be totally unable to group together and attack others; instead, it is rational to assume that they would simply start eliminating each other, while their lack of reason and functional capabilities would make them easy prey to the rest of humanity who would probably isolate and cure or annihilate them without letting the damage spread for long. This is not what happens in the film however, as we see an unlikely scenario in which these infected zombies not only manage to devastate an entire civilized country without anyone being able to stop them, but they also form groups and attack our heroes in unison in occasional scenes.
Despite these gaps, the film overall manages well. The actors, although not widely known, perform fine. The scenery, and especially the portrayals of the empty city streets and buildings, are fascinating, despite the production's low budget. A 7/10 is a fair grade in my opinion.